One final blog which will be my last word on the Islander/NHL new policy on reporting injuries.

I'm going to go all out to exclude it from NYI Fan Central Comments at this point.

I know it's not popular to point this out but someone does have to write this and hopefully some of you consider my viewpoint.

The New York Islanders do not trust the media covering this team to do a fair and honest job for them so they are protecting themselves by telling the media less.

Can you honestly blame them?

Forgetting another NHL team now owns the paper that will not even give our team television coverage, a pregame show or even internet live preseason games this is something that goes back a long time with Mr Botta in April 2006 ripping Newsday reporting during Alan Hahn's tenure.

There are a history here of problems.

Remember our 25th anniversary of the first cup on 5/24/05?

Newsday gave it nothing and only after the fans ripped the paper was some token coverage presented the following Sunday with a few words from Mr Hahn's poorly edited book.

We all know where Newsday stood when DiPietro made the all-star team or Al Arbour night came along with the core of the four, all we got was silence or a negative article questioning the motivation behind the event first and foremost.

These are the same folks who are upset the Islanders will not give them specific injury information?

We have a beatwriter who clearly never understood the urgency a team with only blog in a newspaper needed far more coverage, he could not even compete with his counterpart or be bothered. All you got were excuses that longer blogs made up for less blogs.

If you owned this team would you consider that fair and want to go out of your way to tell these folks more if you did not have to by league rules?

On top of that we have a bunch of sidebar reporters who go over the top negative at almost every opportunity starting with Mark Herrmann. Many of these folks pop up once a year from guest amateurs, Wallace Matthews, Johnette Howard who out nowhere rip on every aspect of this franchise with some of the information an outright lie as Ms Howard recently demonstrated.

Beyond that you have Mr Rieber and Mr Baumbach always ready to insult the club for virtually anything which Mr Botta told you to ignore recently?

Maybe the New York Islanders decided to stop ignoring it and simply tell these folks less.

If someone treated you this way how willing would you be to speak with them much less tell them more than you have to?

I would tell them only what is required by NHL policy.

I did not read the Newsday staff abuse the garden in print several times a day for their media policies here that went a million light years beyond anything the Islanders could think of doing by simply not disclosing injuries.

When Charles Wang or Chris Dey hire security to start clearing interviews and questions we can revisit that one.

I understand our fans frustration because we are caught up in the middle and with the media having space/blogs to rip the club combined with your lack of information and the teams record does push you to their side automatically.

Having written that there are two sides to every story, I'm telling the other side.

The list of negative coverage simply to incite reaction along with outright incorrect headlines (that were quietly retracted) has done more than it's share of damage as it spread to other publications in North America and hurt this teams perception in every corner.

Islanders at best have been mediocre for several years, but they do not deserve what's been written to this degree, not even close.

Meanwhile the same media people killing this team in print will be just as quick to point out the fans staying away.

I know in this news media/internet climate a lot of folks are all about what the Islanders can do for them, never the other way around. It's about connections, access, friendships, scoops and a lot of what can everyone do for me next?

I have experienced some of this since I started NYIFC and prior, you discover who your real friends are and who is simply using you because they always want more.

NYIFC takes the toughest road, it's not popular but it is the right thing to do which is why this blog is here and what I promised on day one.

I cannot speak for the Islanders on this policy, I can only give you my speculation as an outsider and I have.

2 comments:

1) A siege mentality approach is one way to work with (against) media perceived bias. Sure, there will always be inequities with the Ranger/isles reporting. There might even be a perceptible favoritism of one team at the expense of the other, that is apparent/exuded with certain beat writers, etc.2) However we believe this approach is not the best way to go. Reducing media (and there by fan) interaction/openness is not a good way to go when you're trying to increase interest/good will in the community. Especially when the team is in a self proclaimed 'rebuild' when W's might be few and far between. 3) Is this the time to pick a fight with those folks? They might never say anything positive, but sticking your finger in their eyes isn't going to help that either, no? Meanwhile the folks who matter most (you, the fans) are getting less information. Ultimately in our opinion the franchise suffers from this self inflicted isolationism.

Let's be clear my perspective on the Islanders non-disclosure of specific injuries could be completely incorrect.

I think I'm correct but we'll never know, NYIFC is just a site giving it's view of things as an outsider.

1) Lets assume I am correct here in my peception of this. Is it really a siege to simply not give out specific injury information? It's not as if the club has not disclosed time frames with injuries.

A siege in my estimation would be the club censoring interviews and all access to the strictest standards of NHL rules.

2) The Islanders are not reducing any media here, they simply have decided to follow league policy and so not give out specific information. We have general managers in this league who might as well be in the witness protection program for all the times they surface and speak. The Isles seem so willing to get out it's message to the community we have a blog box with fan bloggers(like myself) putting out any opinion we like whether it's favorable or not to the club.

I can tell you never has the team contacted me about content here.

About this self-proclaimed rebuilding mode that is an error created by the media because the club never has said officially said this.

They have said they are working in prospects with the veteran players and the age of the current roster does not lie.

3. Do you really think holding back information on injuries goes as far as the club picking a fight?

One newsday staff writer yesterday put up a pic of Mickey Mouse and wrote that's what the club is with a 1-2 record and this is someone allowed access to the players last week who did an interview.

Who's picking the fight is the real question because it seems the Isles are in duck and cover mode?

I do not see the fans suffering much here, I see the media frustration with the policy pushing opinion but what news have we actually missed?

They announced three days after he got hurt Martinek would be out 4-6weeks with an upper body injury.

Just my perception at some point the club said enough, it could be wrong.

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